Now Spinning: Hippo Campus Live

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November 13 was St.Paul Minnesota band Hippo Campus’ first time headlining a show at the 9:30 club in DC. They have toured in DC a few times before opening up for other artists and headlining at The Black Cat. This is my second time seeing them, the first time being back home in North Carolina, and I can confidently say that they put on an amazing show every time they perform.

Hippo Campus is made up of four members: Jake Luppen(vocals/guitar), Nathan Stocker (guitar/vocals), Zach Sutton (bass) and Whistler Allen (drums/vocals) and was formed in 2013.

Each member of the band has an amazing energy during the show which the audience mirrors. I danced and jumped around to the beat of every song they played and so did the people around me. My personal favorite part of the show is when the bandmates step away from their microphones and being to have mini guitar “competitionsÛ, it was mostly Jake and Zach.

The band only has one record out as well as a few EPs which means that they are able to play most of their songs. They were able to play a few of my favorites: “Way it GoesÛ, “ButtercupÛ, “MonsoonÛ, “Suicide SaturdayÛ, and “VioletÛ.

Overall the concert was just a lot of fun, and I could tell it was a lot of fun for the people around me, everyone was singing and dancing along. The band seemed very excited to play that venue, so all around it was just a great show.

The opening act was interesting, they were a band named Remo Drive, also from Minnesota, that I have never heard of before seeing their name on the tickets for the concert. The first thing they said when they came on stage was something to the extent of “this is the angriest we have ever been so we are going to play some rock musicÛ.

Remo Drive seemed like the typical angsty white boy music and they kind of were, but I was still able to get into it. The last song they played was actually my favorite that they performed, it is called “Yer Killin’ MeÛ. They said that they wrote that song as a joke, so I guess I could say I liked it ironically.

I encourage those who are reading to check out both of these bands, especially Hippo Campus as they are one of my favorite bands at the moment.